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Thursday 15 November 2012
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The details aren't clear quite yet, but long-time Xbox Live members, those who have been on the service for 10 years, are getting a surprise from Microsoft.
Microsoft's Larry Hryb confirmed a report from Kotaku this morning saying "some" Xbox Live members are getting a commemorative console to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Xbox Live. Hryb said he'll be able to share more details about this later in the week.
Additional photos of consoles showing up on people's doorsteps can be seen here.
BREAKING: Tom Hardy has become attached to star in the film based on Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell video game, and Eric Warren Singer has been set to write the script. The project isn’t set up at a studio yet, but is moving forward with the game universe’s France-based company Ubisoft.
Studios have been vying to make a deal for the franchise, with Warner Bros and Paramount recently rumored to be knocking on the door earlier this summer. Singer, who wrote the thriller The International, also scripted the Black List script American Bullshit, which is being made as an untitled drama that David O Russell is directing with Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner starring.
The original game, revolves around Sam Fisher, a covert operative who so far has been put on six missions covering six installments of the game that has sold 22 million units and spawned several novels. Hardy will play Fisher. After his recent turns in Warrior, The Dark Knight Rises, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Inception, Hardy is on everybody’s most wanted list. He’ll next star in the George Miller-directed Mad Max: Fury Road and is being offered just about every movie these days, it seems.
This becomes the second recent movie development on a Ubisoft game property, after New Regency made a deal to finance and distribute Assassin’s Creed, the screen adaptation of the Ubisoft video game that will star Hollywood’s other “It” guy, Michael Fassbender. These projects were hatched by the game maker’s Ubisoft Motion Pictures division, and the company has strong creative input as the projects move into the script stage. Vidgame to movie projects have been hit or miss, but you certainly cannot deny the core audience potential if these are done right. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell video games have sold more than 23 million copies since they debuted in 2002, and Assassin’s Creed has sold 37 million games, with the latest installment having just arrived in stores.
For Ubisoft, this marks the second casting coup of landing an up and coming male star who is ripe to headline a franchise.
“Tom Hardy is one of the biggest talents in the film industry, and he has a phenomenal ability to take on complex and varied roles with his broad range of acting skills,” said Jean-Julien Baronnet, chief executive officer, Ubisoft Motion Pictures. “His involvement in the Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell movie is exciting news for movie and video game fans alike. In addition, Eric Singer is one of the most talented writers today. We’re confident he’ll bring a fresh approach and create a thrilling story for the Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell movie, while still respecting all the codes and traditions of the franchise that are so important to fans.”
CAA repped both Hardy and Singer in their deals and Singer is also repped by attorney Mark A. Gochman.
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Wednesday 14 November 2012
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Here's The Second Reveal Trailer All The Fans Were Waiting For. If You Didn't Catch It Live Or Wanna Watch It Again Here It Is
Here's A Short Analysis Of The Trailer.
As Always Rockstar Does It Again. Giving Us The Perfect Trailer We Were Waiting For. It Was Worth The Wait. The Trailer Opens With A Funky Music And Shows A Glimpse Of Michael's Mansion And A Brief Introduction To His Life. Then There's The Man Himself, Michael Who Has Come Out Of The Criminal Game But It Looks Like Its Not Staying That Way For Long.
You Know I've Been In This Game For A Lotta Years And I Got Out Alive
There Are Some Glimpses Of Los Santos. The Train Tracks Bring Back Memories.But We'll Get Back To That Later.
Enter Trevor. The Balding Psychotic Drug Abusing Former Military Pilot. Trevor Seems To Be The Badass Tough Guy Not Hesitant To Do The Dirty Work. The Trailer Also Shows His Violent Outbursts And His Thing For Explosions.
I'll Swing By And Sign The Contracts Alright Just Ignore The Bodies
Then There's The Third Protagonist,Franklin Along With Another Guy Asking Michael About Some House. Young And Ambitious,Working As A Repo Man For A Luxury Car Dealership. From What We Can Pick Up From His Conversation With His Friend He Seems To Be Different Than The Average Drug Dealing Thug And Not Much Interested In The Hood Life. Another Scene Shows Him Arguing With His Girlfriend Or Sister(We Don't Really Know)
I Don't Care How Many Cars You Own,You Ain't Changing
There's A Quick Introduction To Michael's Son, James Who Seems To Be The Dumb,Fat Kid Frequently Getting Into Trouble. After This The Trailer Takes It Up And Notch. The Car Chases,Planes,Heists,Explosions,Bikes,Shootouts,Stunts And There Was A Rottweiler. Well That's Something We've Not Seen Before. Not To Forget That Insane Jump By Trevor From The Top Of A Train Just Before Colliding With Another Train.
The Next Scene Shows Michael Introducing Trevor To Franklin.
That's Trevor My Best Friend,That's Franklin The Son I Always Wanted
Just Before The Trailer Ends A Fighter Jet Taking Out A Helicopter Is Shown. The Trailer Ends With The Three Characters Doing The 'Three Wise Monkeys' Pose.
GTA V Seems To Be The Most Ambitious And Largest GTA Ever Bringing Back All The Great Things From Older GTAs And With Much More Innovations And Improvements. The Characters Models Seem More Realistic And The City Looks More Detailed. Rockstar Is Doing Everything Right. The Game Has Been Announced For The Xbox 360 And PS3 But Rockstar Have Not Announced A PC Version Yet. GTA V Might Get A PC Version Later In 2013 Just Like GTA IV.
The Assassin’s Creed series finds itself at an interesting point in its lifespan. With three games in as many years focusing on one character, some gamers have definitely started to feel series fatigue. Ubisoft has promised to remedy that with Assassin’s Creed III; a daunting task, no doubt. This is where it becomes a huge challenge for the developers. You want to introduce enough that’s new to make the series feel fresh, but at the same time you don’t want to get away from what made it successful in the first place. What we end up with is a technical achievement that even current systems have a difficult time containing. AC3 is easily one of the most ambitious titles of the generation.
AC3 follows the story of Connor, the latest in the line of ancestors of our modern-day hero Desmond Miles. Desmond needs a key that Connor possesses so he can stop the incoming solar event, and of course, save the world. Like previous games you will switch back and forth between Desmond and Connor through use of the Animus. The in-between segments serve more as the tomb levels from previous games, while the Connor missions can literally go on for hours if you choose to explore. One thing the series has always done well is storytelling, and AC3 is no exception.
I simply cannot go into much detail without giving away one of the best-kept secrets this year. Needless to say that gamers experiencing AC3 for the first time are in for a truly ‘WTF’ moment once they dive in. What I can talk about is the settings that have been so heavily marketed. AC3 lifts the game into a completely new setting and era by dropping you right in the middle of the American Revolution. 18th century America is a setting that really suits the universe; actually much more than I had anticipated. The return of horses and the introduction of vast forests to explore really add to the sheer engagement of the game.
While the story is fantastic, a lot of what makes AC3 special is its ambition. The AC games have always been large in scope, but the latest entry takes it to a whole new level, making it more on par with other open world games. As I mentioned the new forest sections add a whole new dynamic to the playing field. You can literally lose hours in them tracking wild animals, trapping them and collecting hides. This is all part of the living world that draws you into the experience. You also eventually obtain a home on the frontier that you can upgrade by adding new workers, thus giving you access to new items to craft, and upgrades. This could have easily been a game in itself, and is much larger than versions before it.
AC3 also introduces naval battles early on. This was one of the touted features when showcasing the game, and I am happy to say that it holds up much better than the tower defense mechanism added in Revelations (which are thankfully omitted here). Your ship quickly becomes a focal point in the game, and like your homestead, can be upgraded over time with bigger guns and better upgrades. The ship battles are as epic as you would imagine. Having to compensate for wind and objects that could wreck you while attempting to take out other ships is intense. The mechanics work well enough that they are easy to pick up and play, but deep enough to keep it interesting over time. This is one new mechanic that really works well in this series.
This feels like the theme in AC3 for the most part. Keep what works, get rid of what doesn’t and just add more and more of it. The new stuff is great, and while it can be daunting at times, you can skip a majority of it and simply play through the story to get your fix. It is truly an impressive achievement both technically and aesthetically. It breathes new life into the franchise, and honestly I can’t stop thinking about the game when not playing it.
That is why the next part really bothers me to write. We played our review copy on PS3 and technical issues abound. Frame rate constantly dips below 30 fps, and sometimes as low as 15. It is really jarring, and actually had me cease playing it at times. The game is also packed with glitches. Here are a few things I ran into consistently. Characters’ mouths stop moving when they are talking, sound completely drops out, NPC characters run into walls (this happened a lot when tailing, meaning missions never progressed), characters clip through objects and probably the most jarring, groups of enemies and people disappear at random intervals.
This is not a fair fight for those soldiers.
A lot of these can be chalked up to open world game design, but I cannot remember the series ever having this many issues. It is bad. In some cases it felt game breaking, which in turn says a lot about what is here because even with these issues, I could not keep myself from coming back. I hope Ubisoft fixes these down the road with a patch, but even with the day one update, the game is a technical mess.
Controlling Connor feels natural for anyone who played the previous games. You can still hold down the trigger/bumper button to free run, and the animations for such are gorgeous. Connor makes his way around, above and under objects with ease most of the time, but then there are cases where things go awry. With so much free-running and animation it is bound to hiccup every once in awhile. Instances where Connor will get his foot stuck on a weird object, or have trouble turning down an alley arise. These are most evident when being chased. I got hit several times when running away due to these issues. It just stands out when so much of the game works so well.
Combat also gets an upgrade feeling a lot like it was taking notes from a certain caped crusader. You can now parry much easier, and perform different moves based on the button presses. In fact most of my combat was spent parrying, unless the enemy had their back turned to me. Crowd control is much easier, and the new kill animations are brutal. I also love how Connor has so many weapons at his disposal throughout the game.
One thing the AC series has done well since its inception is the multiplayer mode. Scrapping the traditional deathmatch mentality, this online feature continues to evolve with each new iteration in the series. All of the old modes, including the highly entertaining Assassinate mode where you try to hunt down real players in a sea of NPCs returns, but the highlight of the package is the new co-op focused Wolf Pack. This allows you and your friends to eliminate a series of targets that expands based on player count. It also opens up a branch of the story featuring Abstergo, the front for the Templars. What makes this mode so special is that it forfeits the idea of having to consistently play to enjoy the online portion. You can just hop in with friends and have a good time.
The unique take on multiplayer the series has taken continues to pay off, meaning fans can enjoy it for months to come without worrying about player count. There is an online pass disguised behind the UPlay passport, but you can still hop online up to a certain level even without it.
For some reason I hear the National Geographic theme playing for this screen.
There is literally so much content to be found in the campaign portion of the game that it can become daunting. This also means that you have plenty to discover once you are given that opportunity. The pacing of the game suffers from this early on as you are basically held on a leash for a large portion of the introduction. You will spend an absurd amount of time in what I call an extended tutorial of sorts. I mean, did I really need to be told how to lose notoriety five hours into the game? Things like this hold it back, but once it opens up, you really appreciate how much content is there. Side missions and icons on the map beg you to come discover them, and if you choose to do so, the game is vast and offers you plenty of hours of content.
Visually, the game is stunning. That is the best word I can use. The sheer landscape and attention to detail is impressive. Facial animations look great and the character animations are the best I have seen outside of Sony’s famed adventure series. Little touches like the animation for walking through snow or blood spattering on your character go a long way here. Of course, the frame rate issues compounded with glitches really hurt the experience. The fog in New York is troubling and sometimes weird things really just draw you out of the world, but when it works, it is gorgeous.
Sound is equally impressive, with a dynamic soundtrack that sticks with you. Without Jesper Kyd I know some people were concerned, but rest assured, the music in the game is outstanding. Voice work is equally impressive with only a few missteps. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Connor’s voice actor, but most of the cast pretty much nails it.
Assassin’s Creed III is an amazing experience any way you slice it. The story continues down the peculiar path its predecessors did, but it keeps you engaged. The graphics are outstanding when they aren’t held back by technical issues, and the world is so vast and full of interesting content, you can’t help but get lost in it. If you had been growing tired of the series this version definitely brings you back into it. The improvements are impressive, while keeping the same feel to which you are accustomed. I almost wish the game had waited until the next round of consoles just so it could have gotten around the technical hindrances, but I am totally on-board for the next chapter in the series when those consoles hit. Assassin’s Creed III is how you re-ignite a franchise just when fatigue sets in. This is one game people will be talking about for quite some time.
I played Assassin's Creed 3 on my buddy's PS3 and found this game quiet decent.
- Udbhav Katyal
Much like the Kindle Fire HD is focused on Amazon services like books and movies, the Xbox Tablet will clearly be focused on games. That means that not only will it have a strong display, but it likely will have more performance than any other tablet. That also means it should cost more to build, which would suggest Microsoft could make an overpricing error similar to the mistake Apple made.
However, here is where the magic of the Xbox comes in. The profits in a game system come from royalties on the games. Game systems are sold at or below cost as annuities that pay back dividends when owners buy a service or purchase a game. The end result is Microsoft could price this below cost, creating the best tablet value in market with better components and performance than any other.
This would allow Microsoft to create another product that showcased the comparable Apple iPad mini's weaknesses. It would have high, not low, performance; it would have a better motion detectors for games; it would have an aggressive, less elegant, design to emphasize its purpose -- and it would be priced at or below cost. Saying it was well-differentiated from the iPad mini would be an understatement.
I personally think this gadget would be awesome! because of it's beast OS (WiN 8) and as we all know XBOX is a hardcore gaming console and so this tab will be ! - Udbhav Katyal
Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser told the Guardian about the use of three separate protagonists in Grand Theft Auto 5. "It was partly just to do something totally new, Partly, too, it was because at that point we were deep into the work on the two DLC episodes of GTA IV,
and we thought, well, the bits where all the stories cross over is kind
of cool, so why don't we just do that in one game? So okay, let's just
do multiple characters."
He also said, the protagonists spend more time hanging out together than with other
NPCs.
"If you're playing as Michael and you want to play a
game of tennis, you can call up Franklin and ask him. You are actually
getting to see the main bulk of the story and also spend time with these
people off-mission – that side of it gives it a vibrancy that's a lot
stronger than with [Grand Theft Auto 4's] Roman or anyone else."
Now we can see more on tomorrow's trailer, which is only few hours away. Stay tuned!
Video-card reviewers are stocking up on the Red Bull these late-summer days of 2012: Video cards—or, more specifically, the chips on which they're based—tend to come out in waves, and it looks like it's Nvidia's turn to be in all-out release mode with new graphics-processing units (GPUs). That means we'll be in red-eyed, late-night testing mode, ourselves, to figure out which is the best graphics card for gaming.
At the end of 2011, AMD rolled out its new top single-chip graphics processor, the Radeon HD 7970, followed shortly by the Radeon HD 7950, a slightly stepped-down but still quite powerful GPU for top-end cards. Both were undisputed frame-rate leaders for the first part of 2012—if money was no object. They were especially appealing for multiple-monitor aficionados.
Come March 2012, though, perpetual AMD competitor Nvidia rolled out a high-end card of its own. The company had been a while in releasing a new line of top-shelf desktop graphics chips, but the GeForce GTX 680 proved to be a killer performer. It didn't top the HD 7970 in every one of our frame rate tests, but it was better overall by a small margin, and more power-efficient to boot. That GPU was followed by the GeForce GTX 670, another top performer that, then and now, we gauge a better deal for the frame-rate-obsessed yet price-conscious. This is still a Rs. 21928 card, but it edged out the Radeon HD 7950, which was, at the time, its closest competitor.
Also in Nvidia's early-2012 wave was the truly extreme GeForce GTX 690, an over-the-top dual-GPU card that, at Rs. 54765, was more a conversation piece and a bragging-rights token than a realistic card choice. We didn't get the chance to review this luxury card, but our sister site, PCMag.com did. (See PCMag's review of the GeForce GTX 690.) Nor did we formally review AMD's follow-on Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, a high-$400s, slightly speed-bumped version of the Radeon HD 7970. (See PCMag.com's review of the Radeon 7970 GHz Edition.)
Fast-forward to late summer 2012, and the high-end video card landscape has changed again. In August, Nvidia rolled out a next-step-down GPU, the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, which we tested in slightly overclocked form in the EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti Superclocked. With cards based on this GPU expected to hit at around $300, this is a compelling card for extreme gamers running on a single 22-to-24-inch screen. With more new Nvidia 600-series cards expected before long to fill in the gaps in the line, the desktop-GPU pendulum seems to be swinging in Nvidia's direction as 2012 progresses.
That said, AMD is not leaving the high-end turf undefended. Shortly after the release of the 660 Ti, the company announced that its already-released HD 7950-based cards would fall in price, showing up in stores as you read this in the low to mid-Rs 16000s. So it pays to shop around, especially if you're an AMD loyalist. If you’re an absolute-enthusiast PC gamer shopping for a card in this lofty price range, the AMD Radeon HD 7950 and Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti are our dual picks at the moment for the best graphics card for gaming in terms of maximum value at the high end. The differences really come down more to feature set than raw performance. (You can read more about those things in the individual reviews.) Still, if you simply must have the best frame rates money can buy in a single-processor card, don't ignore the AMD Radeon HD 7970 and Nvidia GTX 680—they are stunning performers.
The Midrange & the Low End
If your frame-rate needs are a lot more modest (or your budget is well under Rs. 11000), one card in particular that AMD announced early in 2012 is worth considering. The Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition is our pick here for the best graphics card for gaming for cash-strapped, moderate-to-serious players. Available when we wrote this for as little as Rs. 7000, it offers reasonable gaming muscle if you haven't updated your card for a few years or are coming over from integrated graphics. It's a good choice for those who game at resolutions of 1,680x1,050 or lower, and who don’t want to dial back many in-game settings. Even gamers who intend to play at 1080p (true high-def) resolutions on a single monitor—and who are willing to switch off some in-game eye candy to get smooth frame rates at a fair price—will find a lot to like in the HD 7770 card, as well.
Earlier in 2012, AMD called its “sweet spot” of 2012 gaming performance its cards that lie between the ultra-enthusiast 7900 series and the under-$200 7700-series mainstream cards. And here, we still have to give AMD the nod, with its pair of 7800-series cards announced the first week of March 2012. Both are much closer to the bottom of that range than the top, where the GTX 660 Ti and HD 7950 are currently duking it out.
The Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition bested Nvidia’s comparably priced last-gen GeForce GTX 500-series offerings, and in some cases it topped the GeForce GTX 580, not long ago a Rs. 27410 card and one of Nvidia's best. That's impressive, and AMD says that you should be seeing versions of the card starting at Rs. 13650 as you read this. (We were less enthused with this card at its original Rs. 19132.) The somewhat lesser Radeon HD 7850 is our favorite pick of allof AMD’s current release wave, though. It has the same features as the other 7000-series cards, and it only requires a single six-pin power connector. Its performance in our tests was mostly level with (and sometimes better than) the much costlier last-gen GeForce GTX 570. That was the clincher at the time we reviewed this Editors' Choice-winning card, and the price has since dropped; AMD estimates that 2GB HD 7850-based cards should be available now in the low Rs. 11000s, with a few carrying only 1GB of onboard memory showing up slightly under Rs. 11000.
If you’re looking for the sweet spot of value and performance in a moderate-priced graphics card in the spring of 2012, the Radeon HD 7850 is the best graphics card for gaming on a budget, in our opinion—at least until Nvidia unveils its own new cards in this price range. More on that, we suspect, later this year.
Halo 4 Made $220 Million In Its First 24 Hrs On Sale. Microsoft Called It "The Biggest Entertainment Launch To Date". Halo 4 Beat The Likes Of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 And The Avengers. It Is Predicted To Reach The $300 Million Within This Week. More Than 4 Million Players Were Online In Its First Five Days Of Release.
Earlier Halo 4's Soundtrack Album Made The Record Of Being The Most Sold Video Game Soundtrack Album Ever.
When You Thought Skyrim Had Surpassed The Limits Of Open World RPG's, Imagine Exploring The Entire Continent Of Tamriel With Your Friends. Elder Scrolls Online Lets You Do Just That. Take On New Quests With Your Friends, Strengthen Your Guild, Conquer Other Guilds In Massive Battles In PVP. All This Takes Place On One Huge Server. No More Waiting To Join Your Friend On Another Server Just Join One And You're Good To Go.
A First Look At The The Highly Anticipated MMO
This Game Will Let You Choose From The Nine Available Classes And Have A Variety Of Customization Options. The Game Takes Place 1000 Years Before Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim And Players Have The Entire Continent Of Tamriel To Explore. The Combat Mechanics Are Improved And The Quest System Looks Pretty Neat Too. Being A Avid TES Fan I Can't Wait To Get My Hands On This Bad Boy !!
Bethesda has finally announced that PS3 users will finally be getting DLC content for their hit RPG, Skyrim.
The fact that no DLC content was released for Skyrim (along with the many problems PS3 owners have faced and are still facing) has been pointed out more times than it should have been, Bethesda finally updated their Twitter feed regarding the situation.
Dragonborn, the new DLC for PS3 owners, was teased and announced earlier this week and the trailer was released this Monday on Bethesda’s YouTube channel. The tweet read, “We’re also close on new Skyrim content for the PS3 and PC.” which is vague but it’s still something for PS3 owners who are still hopeful. PS3 owners received neither the Dawnguard nor the Hearthfire DLC yet and have not been given any indication as to a set release date for either.
Dragonborn was discovered back in October by Skyrim’s PC players, who found files associated to words like “Dragonborn” and “DLC2” and revealed that the DLC would actually have dragon riding action and feature locations from Morrowind, which does indeed exist inSkyrim’s open world but has been inaccessible so far.
The files suggested various new quests and armor types and also the ability for players to be able to cast spells while on their dragons. Zenimax, Bethesda’s parent company has also filled a trademark for Dragonborn under downloadable computer game software.
While Dragonborn was originally expected to release only for PC owners, the recent update has left PS3 owners with their fingers crossed. Hopefully this time Bethesda will come through for them despite failing them many a time before.
